Willingness and Motivation of Nigerian Youth to Pursue Agricultural Careers After Graduation

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the world’s highest proportion of young population and there has been widespread interest in and calls for engaging this youth in agricultural occupations for achieving sustainable agricultural development and food security in the region. Yet, very little is known if the youth themselves are willing to take up such employments and what would motivate them to do so. We investigated these questions in the context of Nigeria. A questionnaire was designed with insights from the Expectancy-Value Theory of motivation. Data were collected from over nine hundred undergraduate students of agriculture in four Nigerian universities to investigate their willingness and motivations to pursue an agricultural career after graduation and analysed using descriptive statistics and Principal Axis factoring. Vast majority of the students were willing to pursue an agricultural career and self-employment based on agricultural production was their most preferred choice, which varied according to gender, rural vs. urban residence, and study programmes. Both Success Expectancy (perception of own ability/competence to perform agricultural tasks) and Utility Value (usefulness of agriculture to achieve career goals) exerted positive motivational influence on the students’ willingness, with Utility Value being more influential. Motivation based on Utility Value also had the strongest influence on career choice. These findings can guide policy and intervention design to ensure maximum impact and effectiveness in increasing and sustaining educated youths in agriculture.